Hunter Valley

We went out to Hunter Valley for a day of wine touring & drinking (well I suppose tasting would be the more appropriate term) yesterday. The Hunter Valley is a two hour drive up the north coast from Sydney and home to approximately one hundred vineyards. The area is absolutely gorgeous and in my opinion a must see if you're visiting the Sydney area. We were able to take in three vineyards during the visit and spent a little over an hour in the Hunter Valley Gardens' tourism area for lunch and boutique window shopping. I am not sure how much I learned about wine (aside from the fact that you should not burn your tongue on hot tea the morning of a wine tasting) but I did fall in love with the countryside.

In the evening I had the opportunity to head downtown with Kelly and checkout a summer music festival that was going on. It was the Summer Festival 2009. It still feels weird to me to say summer when I know it's January. I felt as if I had never seen a festival before, at least not in comparison. Not only was this festival free but there were at least three concerts going on at once in Botany Gardens/The Domain (large parks in Sydney's downtown core) so you were able to walk from one concert to another as you pleased. Mind you it took a while because this festival drew in a lot of people. At the end of the show there were even fireworks.
The day before we spent part of the day on a boat in the Sydney harbour. That day I found out that the fastest way to have the steering taken from you is to ask how to avoid hitting the ferry you're heading for. Immediate response! It was fantastic. The owner of the boat also insisted on wearing hats while we were out on the water. Considering my previous experience with the sun I was in no position to argue, and he knew it.
For those dying for a Mike and Ike update they have both left my room. A larger spider appeared a few days ago resulting in their disappearance. I'm not really sure if they felt crowded, intimidated, or if they were meals for the bigger spider. Regardless now all three are gone and I appear to be spider free for the time being.